We decided that B's poles could potentially be modified with a #8 wire approach and that a time-consuming trip to Nelson could be bypassed. It also meant B would try and make do with her alternate insoles for the next while. Monday we had a wander around town (very small!) and spent some time at the fantastic DoC Nelson Lakes visitor centre. Lovely staff and a mine of information in the displays. Sorted out our resupply box and realised that we could be more brutal in our culling and would send some stuff back home. The lodge will luckily arrange for that to happen as there is no post office here. We caught up on what was happening with family and the world as well - as well as limited reception over the last 9 days or so, the power situation meant we were also in battery conservation mode! Lots to catch up on! Had a lovely dinner at the Lodge - we are both filling up before the next 6-7 day stretch over the Waiau Pass towards Hanmer Springs. Actually we cross the road about 50km from Hanmer, at Boyle Village, but will hitch in for rest day and food resupply. Tues was still catch-up. I was busy writing blog notes and B was writing some stories as well. Also got to pay the taxman today - lucky for mobile banking apps! It's a fine day today so would be a good day for walking, but they're the breaks! I am certainly appreciating the weight off the feet for a couple of days, especially as the next three days or so will be relatively long and hard again! I did a fix on Belinda’s poles using duct tape and a couple of rubber stoppers that we each have for our poles, hoping that this would get us through as far as we needed to go. Preferable to spending a whole lot of time and angst trying to hitch into Nelson for some sort of replacement!! We really appreciated the two days off as, for us, walking 12 days in a row, especially over some challenging terrain, was quite a stretch. Yet again, I can confirm that our older bodies cannot quite manage what they used to at 20 or 30 - albeit they still go remarkably well most of the time!! We had seen, however, the predictions of the tail end of cyclone Debbie heading down this way so were also cognisant of not dawdling too much and maybe getting dodgy weather, especially for the Waiau Pass. But we figured if we put in some longish days we could make Blue Lake Hut on the second night and go over Waiau on the third day. If not, there was still wriggle room to allow another night in one of the huts before Waiau!
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AuthorBelinda and Anthony (aka Tony) Hadfield made a decision, in their late 50's, to do something a "bit different" and walk New Zealand's 3000km Te Araroa Trail over summer 2015/16 - although updates will now tell you that this plan will take longer now!!. As the old saying goes - "don't leave home 'til you've seen the country"!! Archives
January 2018
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